Unionville Vineyards Fall ’25

Whenever I visit Unionville Vineyards in Ringoes, I ask myself afterwards why we don’t visit more often. Yes, it is about a 90 minute drive from our house, but I love the area. Along the way we pass the Hopewell Valley statues of cows. These are decorated fiberglass ox statues that were commissioned by a public art project in 2014 called the “Hopewell Valley Stampede.” My wife and I sometimes try to count them, though the driver is handicapped by the necessity of safety while driving. There were originally 69 of them, but now we only count around 10 or 12. Many were purchased and now reside at some of the lovely homes in the area.

The back drop as you proceed is the elevation of the land. There are actually 15 named mountains in Hunterdon County. While not massive (this is New Jersey) the two most prominent are Cushetunk Mountain and Sourland Mountain. The latter has a wine at Unionville named after it (Sourland Ridge Red).

Once you arrive, you are welcomed into a beautiful rustic tasting room, overlooking the room below where the magic takes place- from grapes to wine.

The main reason why we do return is the quality of their wines and the uniqueness of their wines. The majority of their wines are more commonly found in the Rhone Region in France than in New Jersey. Speaking of wines…

The Wines

When we arrived we were greeted by Terese, the tasting room manager. It was our good fortune that she was also our server and there were no other patrons doing a tasting while we were there. When we were unsure of how we wanted to proceed, she recommended that we could start with the wines which have received the highest scores in recent reviews by wine critics:

• 2023 Hunterdon Mistral Blanc-I have been saying for some time that the Mistral Series wines here are worthy of more attention and accolades. Glad to see that this white blend recently received 92 points from the Wine Enthusiast. It’s a great blend of Viognier, Marsanne, and Rousanne.
• 2023 Pheasant Hill Chardonnay-A perennial classic here. Their Chardonnays have been a huge reason for Unionville’s success over the years. This one boasts delicious bull-bodied notes of lemon and pineapple. Awesome!
• 2024 Hunterdon Mistral Rose-One of the best Roses in the state, this one recently garnered 90 points from the Cork Report. It is a blend of Syrah and Counoisse and offers strawberry and lime notes, with zesty acidity.
• 2022 Pheasant Hill Pinot Noir-A very good version, a bit darker in color and a bit more body than I recall in the previous vintage. It boasts tasty ripe cherry and cranberry notes and received 89 points from Decanter.
• 2022 Hunterdon Mistral Rouge-A wonderful red blend of Counoisse, Syrah, and Viognier. it is medium plus-bodied with notes of ripe red fruit on the nose and the palate.
• 2022 Sourland Ridge Red-A terrific red blend of Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a full-bodied red with black cherry notes and lots of structure, but tasting smooth and delicious now. The Cork Report gave this one 91 points.

Bonus pours

• 2024 Hunterdon Mistral Rouge (opened by winemaker, Eric, and shared with my wife and I)-Wow! This one already tastes great, despite being very recently bottled. It is full-bodied and I can’t wait to grab a bottle of this one in the near future, hopefully.
• 2023 Estate Chardonnay-Unionville has always had a motherlode of some of the best Chardonnay around. They also have an unoaked Chardonnay, which we didn’t get to this time. While I definitely preferred the Pheasant Hill Chardonnay, their Estate Chard was also quite good.
• 2024 Viognier-John Cifelli (General Manager) was kind enough to open a recently bottled Viognier and let my wife and I try it. Another winner! John shared that most of the 2024’s were coming in with around 14+% alcohol. Higher than usual, due to the great vintage year with abundant sunshine. This adds to the body of a lush Viognier like this one.

Thanks again to Terese who was very knowledgeable, very personable, and very generous with her time. Thanks to the talented winemakers, Eric and Austin for sharing some of their time and expertise (and even a bonus taste of a recently bottled 2024 Mistral Rouge). Finally, I want to thank John Cifelli for his gracious welcome (despite his very busy schedule) and for letting us try the Viognier. We will be back for this and more in the near future.

Our Takeaways

From left to right below: Pheasant Hill Chardonnay (2); Mistral Blanc; Mistral Rose; Mistral Rouge; and Sourland Ridge Red.

Coming Attractions

• White Horse Winery Fall ’25
• Old York Cellars Fall ’25
• Plagido’s Winery Fall ’25
• Laurita Winery Fall ’25
• Sharrott Winery Winter ’25

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